He says the local woman was shopping in a Goodwill store when she found the game. She paid $7.99.

“It was funny the way she brought it in because she had three or four other games she wanted me to look at,” Hamm said. “So she brought them out one by one and they were all not a lot of money. Then she pulled it out of its own plastic bag and I about fell over.”

What made it even more special was the packaging. Hamm said the game still had the original plastic, but it had been tampered with just enough to open the box and see the contents inside.

“It’s by far the nicest one I’ve seen,” he said.

The game still had the cartridge and the manual, adding to its price, Hamm said.

Having just opened the store, Hamm said he didn’t have enough money to offer her anything. So the woman turned to GameGavel.com, an eBay alternative for video games, to auction her find.

Online the game has already attracted one bid. It’s for $12,000. Bidders competing for the prize have to up the ante in at least $250 increments. The auction will continue for four more days.

“I’ll definitely be watching to see how the auction goes,” Hamm said. “That’ll be interesting.”

The game’s owner is a college student who hopes to pay off her student loans with money she makes off the game, he added.

Hamm also appraised another rare find just before Stadium Events made its way into his store. The seller got $500 for a video game he called, “Family Fun Fitness Athletic World,” which Hamm suspects came from the same lot at the same store “Stadium Events” was found.

“It might have all been from a collector or just a fanatic back then,” he said.

The funny thing: Most of the rare, valuable games aren’t even fun to play, he said.

Reach Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or on Twitter @Lbaheri.

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He says the local woman was shopping in a Goodwill store when she found the game. She paid $7.99.

“It was funny the way she brought it in because she had three or four other games she wanted me to look at,” Hamm said. “So she brought them out one by one and they were all not a lot of money. Then she pulled it out of its own plastic bag and I about fell over.”

What made it even more special was the packaging. Hamm said the game still had the original plastic, but it had been tampered with just enough to open the box and see the contents inside.

“It’s by far the nicest one I’ve seen,” he said.

The game still had the cartridge and the manual, adding to its price, Hamm said.

Having just opened the store, Hamm said he didn’t have enough money to offer her anything. So the woman turned to GameGavel.com, an eBay alternative for video games, to auction her find.

Online the game has already attracted one bid. It’s for $12,000. Bidders competing for the prize have to up the ante in at least $250 increments. The auction will continue for four more days.

“I’ll definitely be watching to see how the auction goes,” Hamm said. “That’ll be interesting.”

The game’s owner is a college student who hopes to pay off her student loans with money she makes off the game, he added.

Hamm also appraised another rare find just before Stadium Events made its way into his store. The seller got $500 for a video game he called, “Family Fun Fitness Athletic World,” which Hamm suspects came from the same lot at the same store “Stadium Events” was found.

“It might have all been from a collector or just a fanatic back then,” he said.

The funny thing: Most of the rare, valuable games aren’t even fun to play, he said.